Optical Time Stretch for High-Speed and High-Throughput Imaging—From Single-Cell to Tissue-Wide Scales

Abstract

Initially developed for high-speed optical communica- tion, optical time stretch has recently been adopted for ultrafast and sensitive optical imaging at an unprecedented speed. In this paper, we highlight the essential concepts as well as the enabling elements of this ultrafast technology. More importantly, we review the re- cent developments of optical time-stretch imaging, especially in the context of 1) quantitative optofluidic microscopy for high-content single-cell phenotyping at an imaging throughput ∼100 000 cells/s; 2) all-optical multi-MHz (>10 MHz) swept-source optical coher- ence tomography (OCT) for high-speed in vivo anatomical and functional 3-D tissue imaging. We also discuss the current techno- logical challenges in time-stretch imaging. In particular, generating the enormous data in real time, this technology could uniquely cre- ate new insights of data-driven science in clinical diagnostics and basic biological research.